Abigail was born to an incredible
family from China who came to America to have her due to the one child policy
that was still in effect last year in China. At 24 hours of life, Abigail
became very sick and was rushed to the NICU where they soon discovered based
off of her newborn screen that she had Methylmalonic Acidemia, or MMA. The care
for children in Beijing, China with MMA is limited and Abby's birthparents made
the most sacrificial, loving choice for her - they made the choice to
place her for adoption here in America.

AND, my husband and I were the lucky
ones to adopt her! We have an open relationship with her birth family in China
and we share stories and pictures all the time!

Abby is a very loved little girl as she is the first
grandchild on both sides of our families! So, on this first birthday there is
not much that she needs. However, there is one gift that would be life changing
for her...

the gift of a cure for MMA.

There is extensive research currently
being done for a cure and we would like to give back to helping further this
research.

In lieu of gifts for Abby's birthday, we are asking that you make a
donation to help end the existence of MMA. Abby is currently doing amazingly
well and is happy and thriving! We are so thankful for the care she is
receiving and daily count the blessing of this little one in our life!

To honor Abby's birthday with a donation to the MMA Research Fund, please see the How to Donate tab and include Abby's name in the memo.

100% of the proceeds will go directly to help fund the research that is being done to cure Methylmalonic Acidemia!

Thank you!

~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks to everyone who attended Brady's 10th birthday bash! The event raised over $6,000 to support MMA Research!

We are very fortunate to be celebrating Brady's 10th birthday this November. Brady is a healthy, happy boy despite Methylmalonic
Acidemia (MMA), which was detected with Newborn Screening.

When Brady was 7 days old, we
were called back to redo the screening and instructed to visit Dr.
Shih at Mass General the following day. That began our journey of educating ourselves and our families and friends all about low protein formula, foods, and other complications of MMA, a disease he would not outgrow.

Brady's diet was just increased to 30 grams of protein a day and has had his special “drink medicines” since he was a newborn. While he is restricted from eating meat and very little dairy, his favorite foods are starches such as popcorn, French fries, corn and pasta. Those are the main staples of his diet along with fruits and vegetables.

We work hard to make sure that Brady remains healthy and happy. But like other MMA children, he has had numerous hospitalizations when his body could not fight colds, ear infections and stomach bugs. Despite these obstacles, he is our hero who always remains strong and positive.

We know that many of the other families dealing with MMA have much bigger battles to fight than we currently have and we continue to count our blessings and pray that Brady will stay this healthy and strong.

~*~*~*~ HOPE ~*~*~*~

When Brady was 2 years old, we were fortunate
to have Dr. Martin become the first pediatric metabolic doctor at UMASS. Dr. Martin continues to care for Brady today. She helped us become enrolled in Dr.
Venditti’s research at National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland.

We visited Dr. Venditti in June 2008 and again in February 2014.

Dr. Charles Venditti and Brady at NIH (February 2014)

Dr. Venditti and his team are working hard to find better treatments and gene therapy for people with MMA and we are excited to support these efforts with Brady's birthday bash! All
proceeds from the benefit will be directed to Dr. Venditti and his team at NIH through the MMA Research Fund.